Nuggets from Psalm 15-17

Brothers,

I missed our Tuesday fast last week and now that I have gotten that off my chest, can we just move forward. Sorry! I got caught up with working a conference in Washington and next thing I knew I was chowing down completely oblivious to what day it was. Thanks for the reminder Bill and I'm definitely with you this week. I had a breakfast meeting planned for Tues. morning with Steve B. and I called him back and reminded him that Tue. is our day to fast. He quickly agreed that we should move our breakfast to Wed. morning. Praise God for brothers to hold us accountable and keep us pointed to His Word.

I have been reading the Psalms that Bill directed us to and I agree that there are deep riches beneath the surface. As we start another week on our journey, I'm focusing on a couple verses that stand out to me.

Psalm 17:13-15 "Arise, O Lord, Confront him, cast him down; Deliver my life from the wicked with Your sword, With Your hand from men, O Lord, From men of the world who have their portion in this life, And whose belly You fill with Your hidden treasure. They are satisfied with children, And leave the rest of their possession for their babes.

As for me, I will see Your face in righteousness; I shall be satisfied when I awake in Your likeness."NKJV

I quickly see a picture of the comfortable Christian in these verses. Somehow the church has bought into the satisfaction that the world offers. It is a careful caution that we should never be satisfied with low-level Christianity. There is nothing wrong with getting joy from our children and enjoying the simple pleasures of this life BUT...I believe David is challenging us not to ever be satisfied with this what this world has to offer us. We can be completely lulled to complacency by the success and satisfaction that can come from our careers, the feeding of our appetites, and even the building of a good family. David seems to be saying that this hunger that each member of this prayer union struggles to put into words, is a very proper hunger that will only be satisfied when we awake one day and see our Saviour face-to-face. I pray that this hunger will build and fuel a burning heart for God that will continually drive us to our knees and deep into His Word. Let us enjoy our families, enjoy our food (except on Tuesday!), and enjoy our work. But....let us never allow these "good" things to satisfy us.

I am praying for you by name each day and I covet your prayers on my behalf. Let's keep praying for God to do His work in each of our lives and trust Him to take us deep.

Your brother in the fight, Steve C.